1952 NERC Season

The 1952 NERC Season was the 7th season of the North-Eastern Runty Championship, the first professional runty league in the world. The Brooklyn Devils, Columbia Alumni Scholars, and Westchester Racers all made their NERC debuts, bringing the league to 10 teams. These teams all faced each other home and away for a duration of 18 weeks.

The Boston Riders won their 3rd Champions Cup, defeating the Manhattan Archers in a thriller.

Regular Season
The NERC’s 7th season began on May 3, 1952, with all 10 of the league’s teams playing at the traditional 3:00 time slot. Like each previous season, the regular season consisted of each team playing each other home-and-away. There would be no bye weeks, and each team was now playing 6 more games than they had played in previous seasons, so fatigue would play a big part in the playoff race.

The opening week of games was a mix of snoozefests and tight, exciting games. First, the Westchester Racers won their inaugural game over the Bears 29-24. The same would not be true for the Scholars and Devils, who lost their games 31-18 and 33-26 to Boston and New York, respectively. The other two games consisted of the Archers silencing the Islanders 23-11, and Hempstead edging Buffalo 26-20.

Games of the Week
Week 1: Bronx 24-29 Westchester

Week 2: Manhattan 27-24 New York

Week 3: Buffalo 22-26 Columbia Alumni

Week 4: Hempstead 29-27 Westchester

Week 5: Buffalo 25-26 Boston

Week 6: Brooklyn 29-33 Buffalo

Week 7: Boston 33-36 New York

Week 8: the Bronx 26-25 Boston

Week 9: Manhattan 24-29 Columbia Alumni

Week 10: Boston 32-21 Columbia Alumni

Week 11: the Bronx 29-31 Hempstead

Week 12: Hempstead 28-25 New York

Week 13: Westchester 30-30 Hempstead

Week 14: Brooklyn 25-23 Hempstead

Week 15: Buffalo 20-24 Brooklyn

Week 16: New York 26-30 Boston

Week 17: Manhattan 26-23 Brooklyn

Week 18: Hempstead 30-28 Boston

1. BOSTON RIDERS

Leading Goalscorer: Paul Dean (19)

Finishing at the top for the third time in 6 years were the Boston Riders. They started the season on fire, winning all of their first 6 games. Despite not making any real major changes to their lineup, a new system implemented by coach Gerald Walker made Boston a force. This style didn’t focus the play around their best player, but on how they moved the ball around as a team. This new style always left one of their players in a prime position to take the ball and score. Other teams couldn’t find an answer to this, as the Riders finished at 13-5.

2. MANHATTAN ARCHERS

Leading Goalscorer: Harry Marley (18)

Coming in second were the reigning champs, the Manhattan Archers. Despite them finishing second, sportswriters almost unanimously agreed that the Archers were the league’s best team in terms of how they played. They averaged 1.3 more points per game than the closest team, and also finished with the league’s best point differential. Despite these impressive stats, a frustrating 3-point loss at home in week 18 prevented them from taking the #1 seed once more. Manhattan finished at 12-6, clinching home-field advantage for the semifinals.

3. COLUMBIA ALUMNI SCHOLARS

Leading Goalscorer: Murray Samatz (13)

Coming in third was a team that everybody expected to be in the basement, the CA Scholars. Nothing about the team really wowed analysts, and they didn’t have any flashy players, yet they were still playing simple, efficient runty. The Scholars played their best at home, where they went 7-2. Despite their surprising season, there was one thing that weighed them down: Their losses. When the Scholars lost, it was not pretty. Of their 7 losses, only two were within one goal, and they had multiple games lost by 10+ points. In the end, the Scholars finished at 11-7.

4. WESTCHESTER RACERS

Leading Goalscorer: Willy Gleason (18)

Finishing fourth was another surprise, the Westchester Racers. Their season wasn’t as impressive of the Scholars, but they still played well enough to just sneak into the playoffs in the last week of the season. Similarly to CA, Westchester weren’t flashy, but they got the job done when they needed to. The Racers also played an NERC record 3 ties in a single year, which helped them finish just above the Bears to claim the final spot. In terms of individual players, LHF Willy Gleason was a pleasant surprise, leading the team in scoring. The Racers finished at 8-7-3.

5. THE BRONX BEARS

Leading Goalscorer: Lucas Sizemore (29)

Finishing 5th and just missing the playoffs for the second straight year were the Bronx Bears. They were in perfect position to make the postseason with one week to go, just needing a win to clinch. However, they lost 45-21 to Buffalo while the Racers won, knocking them out in heartbreaking fashion. The biggest bright spot for the Bears was Lucas Sizemore, who continued his upward trajectory, finishing second in the league in goals with 29. Despite this, their defense struggled to reward the forwards for their scoring, leading to losses in games they should have won. The Bronx finished at 9-9, 1.5 points out of the 4th spot.

6. HEMPSTEAD CLIPPERS

Leading Goalscorer: Will John (10)

Finishing in 6th were the Hempstead Clippers, who had a much better season than in 1951. While their offense still left a lot to be desired, their defense was much improved and kept them in more games. Despite not making the playoffs, they still had impressive victories, and were the only team that won both their games against the first-place Boston Riders. In the end, despite not making the playoffs, the Clippers deemed their season a success, and were looking to build off of it for the 1953 season. Hempstead finished at 8-8-2.

7. NEW YORK KNIGHTS

Leading Goalscorer: Victor Kattie (23)

Finishing in 7th were the New York Knights, who also had a much better year than in 1951. Both their offense and defense rebounded from an off year. Victor Kattie in particular was much better, as he went back to leading the team in scoring, and finished third in the league in goals. The Knights were actually primed to clinch a playoff spot, but they lost their last three games, including one against CA that would’ve put them into the postseason had they won. Like the Clippers, the Knights viewed their season as a positive, and hoped that they could continue their trajectory back into a playoff spot.

8. STATEN ISLAND ISLANDERS

Leading Goalscorer: Gotham Packard (11)

Finishing 8th disappointingly were the Staten Island Islanders. Despite their defense once again being one of the best in the league, their offense took a massive step back, and it cost them games. For example, they had one game against the Racers where their defense only allowed the opposition to score 15 points, but the Isles offence themselves only managed 15 points for a tie instead of a win. Their 21.4 average points scored per game was worst in the league. In the end, the Islanders finished at 7-8-3, below the Knights on point differential.

9. BUFFALO PANTHERS

Leading Goalscorer: Des Samuel (35)

Finishing in 9th were the Buffalo Panthers. They were expected to struggle with the loss of Christian Charpentier to Brooklyn, but analysts weren’t predicting them to fall as hard as they did. The Panthers particularly struggled on the road, only winning their last away game of the year. The one bright spot for Buffalo was the continued growth of Des Samuel, who led the league in goals for the second straight year, finishing 12 ahead of the runner-up. He was showing no signs of slowing down either, which was a scary thought for the rest of the league. Buffalo finished at 5-12-1.

10. BROOKLYN DEVILS

Leading Goalscorer: Bert Roberts (14)

Finishing in last were the Brooklyn Devils, who many had projected to actually be the best of the three expansion teams in their inaugural season. However, not much went right for the Devils, who finished with the second-worst offense and worst defense in the league. None of their wins were seen as huge upsets, since all were against teams that missed the playoffs. Overall, the 1952 season was seen as a building year for them, and they hoped to be more accustomed to NERC play for 1953. The Devils finished at 4-14.

Playoffs
The NERC announced prior to the season that despite the addition of three teams, the amount of playoff teams and the overall playoff format would remain the exact same.

Notable Events
-  The NERC went up to double-digit teams for the first time in its history.

-   In between weeks 3 and 4, Bronx defender Bill Ward created controversy after he publicly announced a desire to leave the Bears and join Manhattan. This did not work out in his favour, as he was released by the Bears, while the NERC refused to let him play for the remainder of the year.

-   In the week 1 game between Westchester and the Bronx, referee Lewis Pampa was continuously heckled by Racers fans, who started throwing debris at him. He threatened to abandon the game and award the Bronx the win. After this, the heckling stopped.

-   New York’s Tim Busby became the first player since 1947 to score 6 goals in a game.

-   In the final weeks of the season, a mini tournament was held, with players representing their home states. Teams included New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The New York team ended up winning the tournament.

-   The week 13 game between Hempstead and Westchester broke the record for highest-scoring tie in NERC history, with each team scoring 30 points.

-   The week 14 game between Buffalo and Boston saw tempers flare, but surprisingly it didn’t escalate into a fight.

-   In the unofficial “battle of the expansion teams” Westchester won, winning all 4 of their games against Columbia Alumni and Westchester.

-   The NERC announced the tracking of new stats, such as player height and weight.